Teen girls joining ISIS jihadis

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

Psychologists, sociologists, political analysts and experts on religion and spirituality should be outdoing one another to find reasons why female teenagers barely out of their childhood years are leaving home and country to join Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). This group is considered to be a terrorist threat with intent to rule the world by creating a global caliphate.

Isis, through mainstream media, continues to show the world the cruelty and barbarity it inflicts on those it considers antipathetic to its cause, especially Christians who, simply because they were Christians, were beheaded for the world to see. These Coptic Christians were not even armed fighters against Isis.

But social media is where recruitment happens. Vulnerable, impressionable and disaffected teens can get fascinated by the idea of joining and fighting for a bloody cause that attaches a religious value to it, an eternal one at that. (Twitter recently removed Isis accounts and, as a result, received threats from Isis.)

I found a recruitment video on the Internet, one that showed armed jihadists with gentle faces and modulated voices repeatedly invoking the name of God and speaking persuasively about why joining Isis would give meaning to one’s life (lush greenery and soft chanting in the background). The gist of the message is this: Jihad does not need you, you need jihad, and God does not need you, you need God. The recruiters also mention the countries where their recent recruits are from.

Compared to Isis’ beheading videos, the recruitment video is not blood-curdling but a soft-sell. But listen to the words.

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Almonte's journey: 'passing on the baton'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

And I thought I had first crack at “Endless Journey: A Memoir” by Jose T. Almonte as told to Marites Dañguilan Vitug. The Inquirer beat me to it with the excerpts on 1986 events, and so did two other columnists, in the runup to yesterday’s 29th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution. An important chunk in the book deals with how the military uprising was plotted and carried out, and the role of Almonte, then a colonel, in it.

But I am glad for Vitug, a friend of more than 30 years and an investigative journalist par excellence, that the book is getting a lot of media attention. The book was launched yesterday at the Club Filipino, the historic place where, in 1986, Cory Aquino took her oath as the new president and head of the revolutionary government after the dictator Ferdinand Marcos was toppled by People Power and flown, with his family, to exile in Hawaii.

When I read memoirs and autobiographies, I always love the part about the authors’ childhood memories, whence they sprang, their ancestry and the land of their birth. The heavier historical and political stuff is for later. As they wax sentimental and attempt at the literary when describing their growing-up years, my imagination goes cinematic.

Take South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela’s “A Long Walk to Freedom.” More than his years in prison and his struggle to end apartheid in his country, it is his growing up as a herd boy in Qunu that is colorfully etched in my mind, like how he drank milk straight from the udder of a cow and frolicked in the fields. Here, he was at his best as a storyteller. And as one proceeds to the historical stuff, one begins to understand the character and the beauty of the struggle.

Almonte’s childhood is one for the movies—the rustic village in Albay, the rice paddies, his dying mother—but so are his suspenseful adult forays into dangerous zones as a soldier and intelligence expert. Used to secrecy and covert operations, Almonte had to be repeatedly prodded—by Japanese academic Yutaka Katayama who would write the book’s introduction—to put between covers, if not his entire life, at least his involvement in this country’s becoming. What he knew, saw, heard, felt and experienced, and most important, what he did.

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Images of unspeakable human cruelty

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

These are not scenes from a movie that can be shaken off as soon as one steps out of the dark theater. But even movie scenes can be so disturbing that they leave traumatic imprints on one’s mind. How much more true-to-life barbaric acts against helpless persons purposely recorded for the world to see? And shown almost on real time?

These past days we have been served up images of human cruelty committed against fellow human beings. These are not only still photographs but also moving images that show the unspeakable cruelty that humans are capable of doing—and showing. The perpetrators immediately flaunted their horrible acts via electronic media even while the blood of their victims was still warm on their hands and on their bladed weapons.

I am referring to the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria that emerged to prominence sometime last year to declare the establishment of a caliphate that would dominate the world. In the meantime, they terrorize and kill while invoking the name of God.

Closer to home, we have been made to see—presumably by the perpetrators of the heinous deeds—video footage of the aftermath of the Jan. 25 armed clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, between the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front/Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters when the SAF troopers tried to serve arrest orders on two terrorists believed to be hiding in the area. More than 68 persons died, 44 of them SAF troopers. All is over but the blame-throwing. And the high cost of the botched operation continues to shake the Aquino presidency.

In that video footage recorded by cell phone, SAF troopers, wounded but alive, are shown being finished off at close range, stripped of their uniforms, firearms and ammunition, and personal belongings. The perpetrators shout praise to God and even answer phone calls and tell the callers that the phones’ owners are lying dead in the cornfield of Mamasapano.

What kind of human beings are these that they can commit such inhuman deeds with the name of God on their lips? Why such cruelty, not only to their victims but also to the intended viewers of the video? While many people shudder and throw up at the sight of the bloody images recorded at home and abroad, the images serve the purpose of presenting the perpetrators as the despicable people that they are and their causes anchored on cruelty.

Why line up 21 Coptic Christians, dressed in orange overalls, and make them face the camera, while the killers dressed and hooded in black stand behind with their sharp blades, ready to make heads roll on the sand?

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Fr. Bu, Jedi Master of unknown universe; 92

Philippine Daily Inquirer/FEATURES/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

MANILA, Philippines–He was fondly called Father Bu. Students also called him guru, Jedi Master and guide to the unknown universe. He was my teacher.

Known as the “father of Philippine psychology,” Fr. Jaime Bulatao, SJ, died on Feb. 10. He was 92. After a funeral Mass at Ateneo de Manila University’s Church of the Gesu Saturday, he was laid to rest at the Jesuits’ Sacred Heart Novitiate cemetery in Novaliches.

In a piece I wrote about him for the book “To Give and Not Count the Cost: Ateneans Inspiring Ateneans, 1859-2009,” which was published for Ateneo’s sesquicentennial, I recounted how Father Bu’s 3-by-2.4-meter (10-by-8-foot) room could hold “a universe of objects…,” stuff that looked like they came straight from “The Twilight Zone.”

Here’s my piece from that book, titled “In Fr. Bu’s room, fly on a witch’s broom,” edited to reflect his recent passing.

“IT’S MY mess and I love it,” declared the piggy on the poster that sat on a heap of odds and ends.

Welcome to Fr. Jaime Bulatao’s room and its 1001 curiosities. This room could have been one of the wonders of the Ateneo campus, if not of the entire Loyola Heights. It was amazing how a 10-by-8-foot room could hold a universe of objects and literature on the psychic, the unusual, the spiritual, the mystical, the extraterrestrial, the astral, the paranormal—and not explode, whirl or hurtle itself into the unreachable beyonds where finally all the energies therein could be dissipated or transformed.

It was a wonder, too, how its occupant, Father Bu, and his friends, clients, counselees, students and colleagues could feel at home in such surroundings. The place could be described as messy, topsy-turvy, typhoon-visited, weird, out of this world, a curio shop, a playground for spirits, intelligent.

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Peace bridge over Mamasapano river

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

If only it were “across the river and into the trees” (to borrow the title of a Hemingway novel with reminiscences of war in it), the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police that suffered 44 dead could have had fewer casualties. In their case it was across the river and into the cornfield, which provided no cover at all. It was, in fact, the water lily on the river that gave cover to the lone survivor of the SAF’s 55th Company, sniper PO2 Christopher Lalan, in the battle with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters last Jan. 25. His survival was a miracle.

War movies, among them “The Bridge at Remagen,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” and “A Bridge Too Far” have in their plots strategic bridges, the conquest of which spelled life or death, victory or defeat.

I have watched a video clip taken from a drone that flew over that area. It was posted online by Raffy Tima of GMA 7. The video shows a wide, open field with nary a tree, a river that runs through it, and a long makeshift footbridge across it. Parallel to a portion of the river is a dirt road.

I examined the bridge on the Inquirer’s banner photo that shows Commission on Human Rights head Etta Rosales watching her step on the footbridge’s two logs and holding on to the bamboo railings. A policeman behind her and another one in front of her keep her steady so that she does not plummet into the water. The bridge is made of rough logs, tree branches and bamboo poles tied together with wire. A close-up of a video clip shows bark on the logs, proof that the bridge was made out of felled young trees and constructed by the people of the community and not by the Department of Public Works and Highways. It is quite a long bridge, obviously a much-needed one in that area. The river is wide, wider perhaps during the wet season.

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'Thanatopsis' on the Mamasapano cornfield

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

Last Saturday morning, a group of us from the Office of Women and Gender Concerns (OWGC) of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines went to Camp Bagong Diwa where 42 of the “Fallen 44” of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force temporarily lay in state. We brought personalized sympathy cards for the bereaved families, each card with the slain soldier’s official photograph downloaded from the Internet. It was the OWGC’s small way of comforting the grieving.

It was the second and last day of the wake in the camp but, alas, early that morning most of the dead had been taken away by their families. Sympathizers, many of them civilians, were still coming in. The bodies of the troopers slain in battle last Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, were to be brought to their respective hometowns, there to be further honored and then laid to rest.

One of the bodies still in the camp was that of Insp. Rennie Tayrus, who had led 72 men in the battle to capture two international terrorists who were reportedly hiding in the lair of their armed sympathizers. That battle lasted some 10 hours and left 44 SAF troopers, more than a dozen members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, and several civilians dead.

Postbattle analysts are now hard put to describe what it was—a misencounter, an encounter, a massacre, etc.—even while the road toward peace is being laid out.

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'Poverty, the first violence'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

Fifteen years ago in 2000, I met and interviewed Dominican Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez, then 72, proudly Peruvian and known as the “father of liberation theology.” He was here as a guest of the CO Multiversity then headed by Dinky Soliman, now social welfare secretary. She informed me that Gutierrez was here for an international conference of community organizers. Would I want to have coffee and conversation with him? she asked.

That was one interview I would not miss for the world. (I did write about it.)

From that interview I got an understanding of poverty that was not totally new but which sank in deep because it was profoundly explained by someone who lived it and walked with the poor. As they say, the medium is the message. Or maybe his reputation preceded him.

I had been reflecting on Gutierrez’s words these past days when the subject of poverty and the poor was a hotly debated topic in the mainstream and social media. (“The fallout,” I call it.) Also because Pope Francis, when he was here for a four-day visit this month, constantly reminded us to reach out to the poor and learn from them. I kept wondering: Would the Pope’s blockbuster visit and the unprecedented, mind-boggling turnout of six million Filipinos on his last full day in Manila, and more important, his visit to Tacloban and Palo in Leyte (his priority above all else), change our priorities?

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The Caravaggio effect

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo


“If you have time,” Pope Francis said during his encounter with thousands of young people last Jan. 18 at the University of Santo Tomas, “go see the picture that Caravaggio painted of this scene.”

By “this scene,” he meant Jesus calling the tax collector Matthew to come and follow him. This surprise invitation, as narrated in the Gospel (Matthew 9:9), caused a stir among the self-righteous because Jesus was consorting and eating with the so-called scum of society. And in the case of Matthew, Jesus even called him to join his team, his ragtag band of apostles.

The Pope painted his own scene to stress a point: that God springs surprises and we must allow ourselves to be surprised. “The important thing is to let yourselves be loved by him,” he said in his native Spanish, which he used when he wanted to strongly express something. In that encounter with the youth from all over the country, Pope Francis put aside his prepared speech in English and spoke from the heart with passion and joy.

“Real love is opening yourselves to the love that wants to come to you, which causes surprise in you. God is a God of surprises.” I thought of God calling in gentle and sometimes dramatic ways—calling us by name, calling to mission, but first, to conversion.

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Filipinos' faith introduced to Pope

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

At Pope Francis’ first Holy Mass in the Philippines yesterday at Manila Cathedral, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, in his own effusive way, introduced the Filipino people to the Pope and pointed to the reason for their resiliency and strength amidst tragedies. Quoting noted historian and the Pope’s fellow Jesuit Fr. Horacio de la Costa, Tagle said: It is the Filipinos’ love for music and their faith.

From Pope Francis, a solemn statement rang loud and clear, louder than the roaring organ and singing at Manila Cathedral, clearer than the joyful shouts of welcome from the thousands who cheered him outside and on the streets of Manila. “The poor are at the heart of the Gospel. If we take away the poor from the Gospel, we cannot understand the whole message of Jesus Christ.”

This reminder, simply and directly said, could very well be the heart of Pope Francis’ homily for more than a thousand bishops, priests, religious men and women and seminarians at Manila Cathedral, or Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Intramuros. It was also for the more than 20,000 bishops, priests and religious who were not present and who serve some 89 million Filipino Catholics in various ministries.

Because his message was going to be grave and serious, Pope Francis must have thought it is best to start off by putting everyone in a happy, receptive mood. “Do you love me?” he began his homily by asking the question Jesus asked Peter in the Mass’ Gospel reading (John 21: 15-17). After hearing a yes, he promptly said, “Thank you very much,” making the audience break into laughter.

He was serious from then on. Jesus’ question for Peter, the Pope said, was the first thing he wanted to ask, because “these words remind us of something essential. All pastoral ministry is born of love. All consecrated life is a sign of Christ’s reconciling love.”

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Compassion, 'habag,' awa ng Diyos'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

In Filipino, “mercy” is awa; in the Visayan languages, kaluoy. But how translate “compassion”?

“Mercy and compassion” is the theme of Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines. (Misericordia y compasion, in his native Spanish.) It is easy to differentiate one word from the other when one is thinking in English. But one is suddenly at a loss when trying to find the right Filipino word for “compassion.”

I googled online dictionaries and I could not find a precise word for “compassion” in the Philippine languages. Almost always, awa or kaluoy would come up. Theologian and Redemptorist Bro. Karl Gaspar suggested pakig-unong.

And then the Filipino word habag appeared on screen. Habag, as in Diyos na mahabagin. Is this it?

In news broadcasts on the papal visit, one often hears the word malasakit being used. I don’t know how that word was chosen. But you don’t say, Diyos na may malasakit to mean the compassionate God. To me, malasakit is simply concern, a human duty embodied in the Golden Rule.

Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, provided a profound meaning of the word “compassion”—and a Filipino nuance as well—at the second Inquirer Conversation on the papal visit held at the University of Santo Tomas last Monday, where my fellow columnist Michael Tan (of “Pinoy Kasi”), the students and I took turns asking questions, with editors John Nery and Chito de la Vega facilitating. (The first Inquirer Conversation on the papal visit was held last Saturday with Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle tackling the theme of mercy.)

At the holding room before the program began, I mentioned to the archbishop (“Call me ‘Father Soc,’” he said) that I would be asking him a question on the meaning of compassion in the Philippine context. Over coffee I also asked what story in the Bible was, for him, a good example of compassion. The Good Samaritan? The good shepherd looking for the lost sheep?

His quick answer stumped me: the father of the prodigal son. Aww, I exclaimed in jest, but wasn’t he quite unfair and didn’t he play favorites? Oh, that “prodigal father,” I thought.

I reflected on his answer while we were walking to the auditorium and I began to see why—God showing love in an extravagant, lavish, unconditional way.

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9 bishops falling all over themselves at 'royal wedding'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

During hard times when the “A” and “B” words (austerity and belt-tightening) are on people’s lips, I do a Mary-Quite-Contrary and find myself saying, “But those who have money to spare should spend, spend, spend and spread their money around. Quietly. Not in a lavish way. Let the rich splurge here and not abroad. Don’t keep your money to yourself. You with a little extra cash can have your roof fixed, garden trimmed, gate repainted, party catered. Just so the jobless and the cash-strapped can earn some extra money.” My economics of sharing.

So I am not against spreading money around. But open display of one’s affluence is another story. The wedding of show biz couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera last Dec. 30 was perhaps the grandest wedding hereabouts not seen in a long time. Fawning reporters of GMA 7, the couple’s home network, unabashedly called it “a royal wedding,” and the bride and groom “the royal couple.”

From start to finish, it was supergrand any way you look at it—from the media’s months-long prewedding updates going crescendo to the coverage of the wedding day itself. The cost of the grandiose production, as reported, was staggering and jaw-dropping. The bridal gown alone was reported to have had a whopping seven-digit price tag. A footnote: The groom wore a brand-new, fresh-from-the-box Rolex watch, a gift from the bride, shown for us to see.

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Laudamus te for 'feminine genius'

Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo

Some years ago the Vatican patriarchy sounded an alarm and conducted an investigation of American women religious who blazed trails on unfamiliar terrain or who held views that were not of the Vatican variety. Nuns who belong to the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) were perceived to be too feminist and secular for the Church’s comfort.

About 80 percent of American women religious are affiliated with LCWR. The women were not about to back down; as far as they were concerned, they were faithful daughters of the Church in the way that Jesus would have expected them to be. Still, it was worrisome.

In 2009, the Vatican, during the papacy of Benedict XVI, began an investigation of the religious life of American nuns. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith carried out the investigation and took over LCWR in 2012.

There was yet another investigation—apostolic visitation, it was called—conducted by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

LCWR was viewed as promoting “radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith.” Other “damning” accusations were promoting “a distorted ecclesiological vision, and (having) scant regard for the role of the Magisterium as the guarantor of the authentic interpretation of the Church’s Faith.”

For example the Vatican denounced the book “Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics” by moral theologian Sr. Margaret Farley of the Sisters of Mercy. I did write about this and the support Farley received from the Catholic Theological Society of America.

A well-respected and admired theologian, Farley also initiated a big project in Africa to educate the nuns to work in a proactive way in the AIDS crisis. Farley was instrumental in the founding of the All-Africa Conference: Sister to Sister that offers ways to empower African women to more effectively address HIV and AIDS issues and to bring new information and hope to every village and hut in the sub-Sahara.

A Filipino nun-theologian said to me then: “The Vatican keepers of the gate have inferior knowledge of the whole living tradition compared to Farley! And she lives it totally!”

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